We specialise in needlecrafts, patchwork, quilting, cross stitch, tapestry, felting and so much more. As we attend different events, launch new products, learn new techniques and who knows what else might takes our fancy, we will share our adventures with you.

Saturday, December 31, 2016

I have been wondering how many HST I made during 2016 and looking over the year they have appeared so often. Whole quilts full of them and quilts that have them as part of blocks. There wasn't too many projects over the year that didn't have some in it. So what I am going to do is count them up in 2017.

No matter what project I am make I am going to tally them all up over the year. Plus I will share some projects made from half square triangles. This is the last batch I made in 2016 so these ones do not count but I am only halfway through this batch so there will be more.

Do you make lots of them? Do you avoid them? I know someone who avoids them. She doesn't like triangles full stop. There is so many ways of making them too. Do you have your favourite? I generally use the 2 square method so I end up with two blocks and I can trim them if I need too. Some days I can't seem to sew a straight line, that is why I need to trim, other days I'm good.

There is a tutorial in The Block Library on them TBL-1 It was the first block we explored last year.

I am should we will be seeing again in other blocks we explore through The Block Library. The back issues can be found here on the blog under The Block Library tab but to get the current edition sign up for our newsletter and you will receive it in your inbox when it has been released. Edition 6 was released in December. The blog will always be 3 editions behind. The Block Library is bi monthly, so the next one will be in February.

You are welcome to join me counting your Half Square Triangles to see how many you make and along the way we will have some giveaways (Sponsored by Cynthia's Ark).

It should be a fun experience. Maybe we make tons of them or maybe we don't make as many as we think we do. We will find out over 2017.
If you are interested in joining me let me know in the comments below and I will make a page here on the blog and we will keep a running tally each month and we will see what happens over 2017.

Friday, December 30, 2016

It is the end of the year and it is time to complete 2016 To Do List and see what was completed and what needs to go on to 2017 Project Uninterrupted list.1. My Dahlia quilt. This one I have started but there was no progress on it in 2015.No progress except me looking at it sitting on the table.2. Grand Illusion Mystery quilt. The has been completed and I am up to the quilting stage.

This one is completed.

3. My Aurifil block of the month from 2014. This quilt has become 3 small quilts as I am not happy how they look all together and are ready for quilting.

These 3 are completed.

4. Scrap Dance Mystery quilt. All the parts are made but I need to sew them into blocks.

7. Forget Me Not Sew Along EPP hexagon quilt. Up to Step #9 which is about 3/4 through the top.Definitely some progress but top not yet finished.

8. Allietare Mystery Quilt 2015. It is Bonnie Hunter's annual mystery quilt. Blocks are done and a couple of rows have been sewn.

9. Quiltmaker's 2015 New Year's Mystery Quilt. Blocks are made.

This one is finished.

10. Vacation Time 2015 Block of the Month. Halfway through the blocks.

No progress.

11. Circle Chic quilt. I have decided I am going to baste the quilt with the circles in place and quilt them in place.

This one is completed. Completed picture coming in a separate post soon.

12. Bitty Blocks from Quiltmaker blog. I'm just over halfway through the blocks.

No progress

13. Paper piecing Quilt Along. I started this one hoping to improve my paper piecing I made 1 block and cut lots in preparation but couldn't find time to work on it.

No progress

14. Craftsy 2015 Block of the Month I think I made 2 blocks. Kept meaning to cut the next blocks out but it never happened. This is block 1 no photo of block 2. Oh boy.

No progress

15. My Victorian Fling Quilt which I had forgotten all about until I was looking for something else, which I didn't find.

Halfway through quilting it.

So in the end 7 projects were completed but there was a few more started and completed and some started and not completed. You will be seeing them add to the 2017 list with the remaining projects from this list.

Unfortunately 6 projects not touched over the year, that is not good. This is the one that worries me the most. What to do with them?

Lastly 3 projects that have had some progress, though nowhere near completion. In my defence of these last 3 projects they are my hand piecing projects so progress will naturally be slower but really this slow. One didn't have a stitch sewn. Tune in for 2017 To Do List I think it will be scary. To me at least.

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

I have been making octagons over the last 6 months with our All Over the Octagon Club. The shop octagons which are on display in the shop have been made with the help of Kate and Maureen. That way there is a few more made than I have the time to make and people see different things in fabric.We end up with some stunning octagon made from the same fabrics.

I select the fabrics each month to go with that month shape and pattern and it is up to you how you use the fabric with the English paper piecing shapes to create your octagon. I have stuck with that month shape and fabric each month but there is enough fabric to mix them up so if you love a fabric you can use it with other month's fabrics to make your octagons.

This one is a favourite and I was asked about a tutorial on how to make it. So here goes.
This block uses 1" half square triangles to make it with the English paper piecing technique which is the focus technique of this whole project.

Step 1. Cut out your 32 1" triangles using a rotary cutter and the acrylic template or you can draw around the template and cut them out with scissors. Most of time I will use my rotary cut if I have an acrylic template unless I am fussy cutting a design. I have used 4 fabrics this time but last time only used 3 (16 of one a day eight each of the other fabrics)

Step 2. Basting your fabric triangle on your paper. These days I used a Sue Daley Glue Pen which you can buy from my website or you can sew baste the fabric around the papers (see Tutorial on Sew basting under the Pattern/Tutorial of my blog. It is part of the English Paper Piecing tutorial.)
With the glue pen centre your paper on your fabric triangle and run your glue pen along the edge of 1 side of your paper.(Close to the edge but not right along the edge. This will help when you sew them together as there will be no glue for you to have to sew through. Easier sewing.)

Fold the fabric edge over the paper press firmly. Run glue along the next side and fold the fabric over. Repeat until all the side of your side are fold. When basting your papers fold the fabric around your papers all the same way so all your tails hang out the same way. On some shapes this will help you interlock your shapes and reduce the bulk behind your block.

3. Layout your shapes into your block. For this block I split the block in triangle sections. If you sew them in this sequence you can sew the section with one thread.start at 1 sew to 2 then to 3 and finally sew back to 1 to complete this section.

4. Once you have sections sewn together, lay out your triangles into your final block and sew them together.

5. Now you have a hole in the middle of your block. I press at this point yes with the papers still in place and use the iron to press any tails back under so they don't stick out. There is two ideas for filling the centre, you can cut a square 1/4" larger than the hole if you are not fussed what goes in the centre or you can fussy cut the centre by laying the block on the fabric you plan to use and move it over the fabric until you find some that you like.
At this point I use a erasable pen (like a Frixon pen) and mark the interior edges of your centre on my centre fabric.

Remove your block and use a ruler measure a 1 /4" outside your marks and this is where you need to cut or just cut it out roughly like I did.

6. To hold this piece of fabric to your block so you can sew it in place I put some dots of applique glue around the edge of your block them lay it on your fabric centre. Let it dry or do this on your iron board and use a hot dry iron to set it for you.

7. Start from the back and bring your needle up through the centre fabric and the edge of your block and sew around the centre octagon to secure it in place. Just make sure you tuck the point in if they stick out.

8. Press the completed block with the papers still in, before removing the papers if you are appliqueing to a background block or leave the papers in until you have join more of these blocks together. All depending on your project.

This is the original one that inspired this tutorial with only 3 fabrics for the triangles. I hope you enjoy this tutorial. If you have any questions please ask. I am happy to help. the fabrics used in these octagons are from Sue Daley's Beaujolais fabric range and I carry them in my webshop.

Monday, December 26, 2016

We had a little head start this week with Bonnie releasing the clue early for us Aussies so we had the clue on Friday. Guess what we have to make this week. Just a few half square triangle units. They seem to pop up in all sorts of projects. After just finishing piecing a quilt full of these unit I am wondering how many HST units would I make in a year? I might have to count them up in 2017 and see how many I make in a year.

Still have a few more to complete and trimming to do.

Still we haven't touched our green or yellow fabrics I was sure this was the week for them. Never mind it will happen when Bonnie wants it to happen. Enjoy and check out the progress others are making on their En Provence.

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Over at Meadow Mist Design, Cheryl is hosting the Best of 2016 Linky party. So when I came across the post inviting all to join I start think what would be considered a Best of 2016 post. Would it be the most liked post over the year or my favourite post of the year or my most challenging post?

So I spend a couple weeks on thinking what would fill my top five posts for the year?

Here we go! My Top Five Post of 2016
In the end I couldn't decide on the fifth post so my top 5.

1. No 1 would have to be my stop on the The Road Home Row Along. It was my most visited post of the year. Plus working with a large group of talented people I learnt some much more about blogging and stuff I had never done before, like running a competition with my post.

2. Back in March I did a tutorial post on my Vintage Sewing Machine Quilt which was one of this year's favourite tutorial. The plan is to do more tutorials in 2017.

3. In May I participated in the Art with Fabric Blog Hop with my post on Cynthia's Garden. My interpretation on Irises by Vincent Van Gogh one of my favourite painting. This was a real challenge working in the form of applique.

4. In October I did another tutorial post on my Crazy Cat Quilt. It was about how you can cut up a panel that wider than in length. Plus there was a follow up post on what I did with the centre piece I don't use that become a matching table runner with the leftover fabric from the quilt. Why waste fabric if you can make something else?

5. Lastly this was the hardest one to pick but it is a current project I am working on. My Hourglass quilt it is one of the fun projects I have worked on. No deadlines helps I think. This is where I am up to on it. You can see the progress from the post to now.

Go and have a look at what others have achieved this year in their Best of 2016 post here.

I came across Pat Sloan post about her Solstice Challenge started now and running between the shortest and longest day of the year. 25 blocks in total. Of course it is the other way around for us in the Southern hemisphere but it is still the same length of time. I have lots of batik fabric scraps all different sizes and colours and I think it would be fun to participate and use some of them up. I will control the colours I use. I do want them to look like they belong together. There is still time to join us if you are interested.

.Block 1 was released and here is my block 1 completed.

I look forward to next week's block.

I have link this post up with Pat Sloan's so you can pop over and check out the other ones made.

Friday, December 23, 2016

Pressure! There is only 2 weeks left in 2016. I am on holiday for 2 weeks from my day job. So that means some sewing time and weather soaring into the 40's (in the 100 for my American friends). Not good for doing much except staying in out of the heat.
Looking at my To Do List to see what I could finish before the year finishes. I had three possibilities. Two on my list and a new one. Plus I have one that only needed borders.

So I did the borders on the workshop quilt first. Then cleared the tables so I could start pinning.

I started with my Victorian Fling quilt. It is a free pattern 30's Fling on the Riley Blake Designs website if you like the pattern.

This is my Circle Chic quilt. It has been sitting around for too long considering it has been at this stage all year.

For the third quilt I started laying it out for pinning but the size of it stopped me in my tracks. I am having second thoughts about quilting this one myself. I have put it aside for the time been, I think I will drop it off for it to be quilted by my long arm quilting friend.

Now for the quilting on the other two quilts, maybe tomorrow after I do some Christmas cooking in the morning while it is under 30 degrees.

Monday, December 19, 2016

We are up to Clue #4 already. We have another repeat, it is Clue #2 in a different colour way. I am still working on my purple four patches in between finishing another quilt top so there is progress on the mystery as my leader and ender for the other project. So progress on two projects really.

Still need to make a few more but I am under control for a change.

All my blocks so far. I need to make more of Clue#2 but I am happy with my progress so far. I'm looking forward to the next clue. We must be about to use some green or yellow as we haven't yet used them.
Pop over to Quiltville and have a look at some of the other En Provence quilts in the making.

Sunday, December 18, 2016

I spent a couple of hours at the sewing machine and was able to sew all the block rows with the sashing rows together to finish my top from the Sew It Together - Lucky - Handmade Sew Along.

It was great to finally see the top all together considering I chose the grey instead of a white/cream like the pattern. It looks even better in person my picture doesn't show how well the colour pops with the grey. It is now ready for quilting.

Now I have to decide on the backing fabric and get it pinned so I can quilt it. That will be a big job, it is a large quilt.

On to the next project and I better schedule a pinning day and a quilting day. Maybe I can finish 1or 2 quilts before the end of the year.

Saturday, December 17, 2016

I'm starting my 2 weeks of Christmas break from my day job, so I want to spend some days at the sewing machine and finish a few quilts before the end of the year. While looking at some of the quilt tops waiting on quilting I see a number of other projects that are yet to reach quilt top status I have realised I love starting new projects but I'm not very good at finishing them. One of those light bulb moments in between all the ideas for projects yet to be formed.

So I am going to have to work on that next year. I am worried I completed more new projects this year than the ones on my UFO To Complete list that I set for me in January. I know there is at least 2 projects I haven't even touched, let alone the project boxes that have a pattern and fabric in them that I have set aside to start. Oh boy I may have found myself in a big hole I can't get out of. It sounds like I am going to need extra Project Uninterrupted sessions to work through my list.
These 3 below are on my list to complete and are still here unfinished in December. At least Victorian Fling is to the quilting stage she was only completed blocks at the beginning of the year and there may still be hope for her being finished in the last couple of weeks of this year. The other two I don't think so.

These 2 below are new projects I have started because I get carried away with new fabric, patterns etc.

Two weeks left of this year so we will see what I get done. At least I can says I have not be idle this year I have been sewing even if I have spread myself over too many projects.